Tesco controls 28% of market

Tesco’s dominance of the Irish grocery market has hit new highs with a record 28.4% market share, up from 27.4% a year ago.

Its growth comes at the expense of Dunnes (down 5.8%) and Superquinn (down 9.3%).

SuperValu, with sales up 1.8%, managed to increase market share to 19.8% despite the growth of Tesco and the surge of German discounters Aldi (+20.1%) and Lidl (+1.4%).

The figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks ending May 13, show a tough trading environment in the grocery market, with total grocery sales down by 0.2%.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, said that retailers’ own brands continued to appeal to shoppers in the face of depressed household incomes, growing at 2.3% year on year, as shoppers focus on saving rather than spending.

“Sales of branded goods have dropped over the past year and now account for 53% of the market, down from 54.1% last year. In contrast, we are seeing own-label products thriving for retailers like Tesco, SuperValu, Aldi, and Lidl. Among the retailers this month Aldi, Tesco, SuperValu, and Lidl have all grown faster than the market, placing increasing pressure on their competitors. Aldi’s growth of 20.1% has led to a record share for the retailer this month, breaking through the 5% mark to 5.2% and further demonstrating the importance of price to consumers.”

The Kantar survey indicates that annual grocery inflation stands at 2.2% for the 12-week period ending May 13, up from 1.8% in the previous period but well below the 3.5% in Nov 2011.